


Stay the Night

by bar2d2s



Category: Strange Magic (2015)
Genre: F/M, Nonsexual, Post-Movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-19
Updated: 2015-02-19
Packaged: 2018-03-13 17:47:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3390608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bar2d2s/pseuds/bar2d2s
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Sleeping together" is always made out to be so sexual. Why is that?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stay the Night

Dawn had always been a restless sleeper. 

When she and Marianne had shared a room as children, her older sister was constantly waking up to the sound of her tumbling to the floor, having rolled around so violently that she left the bed clear behind. She got better as she aged, only ending up on the floor one or two nights a week, but while the rolling was still a problem, it wasn't like she had to worry about disturbing anyone.

One day, that changed.

Sunny had been inviting her to spend the night with him for weeks, and she kept making excuses to stay away. Even after he assured her that he wasn't going to try anything improper, that he just wanted them to spend an entire night together, she refused. He understood, and never pushed, but she hated the disappointed looks he always tried to hide.  Finally, it all just spilled out.

"Ever since I was little, I've been the  _worst_  sleeper. I roll around and kick...I nearly put out Marianne's eye a few years ago, with my thrashing." She laced her fingers together behind her back, rocking back and forth on the pads of her feet. "I just don't want to wake up with you...mashed to a pulp, or something!" She chanced a look at his face.

Sunny was biting his lip, trying desperately to keep from smiling. "Dawn, is this what's been bothering you?" She nodded, face feeling hot. "Then bring on the beating, because I'm willing to take the risk." Her eyes widened.

"Are you nuts? You're so-"

"Sturdy?" He supplied, flexing an arm. "Or maybe you were thinking of strong? Impact resistant? Tough?" Sunny took one of her hands in his, smiling up at her. "Stubborn?"

Dawn sighed, but it quickly turned into a laugh. "All of that and more! Okay, fine! So, where are we sleeping?"

There wasn't any way she'd be able to keep him in the castle all night, and the simple fact of the matter was that she was too  _big_  to fit in his home, let alone his bed. So imagine her surprise when he took her past the village, barely a stone's throw from the border of the Dark Forest, where soft moss grew wild. Armed with a few blankets and pillows, they made themselves an acceptable little nest.

As Sunny climbed in, Dawn took to the skies, surveying the area. There didn't seem to be anyone around, and it was very quiet. Peaceful. Satisfied with the lack of danger, she dove back down, landing easily in the middle of their makeshift bed.

Sunny had removed his boots and hand wrappings, but did the gentlemanly thing and left his overalls on. Dawn removed her boots as well, laying them on the outside of the nest. They'd be one less thing for her to accidentally crush. Her nervousness must have been visible, because all of a sudden, Sunny was there.

"Now, I'm gonna try and be tactful here, but I  _think_  it might be best if I'm not, er, on the outside of this situation." At her puzzled look, he made a small flapping motion with his hands. "Your wings are strong enough to carry  _you_ , one good smack from them would launch me directly into Bog's new castle." She giggled as he pantomimed being flung away, complete with a whistle-fall and a splatting sound. "And then, the world loses the most devastatingly handsome elf it had ever housed."

His joking was finally putting her at ease. No longer so worried, she was able to really relax and after taking some time to stargaze and listen to the sounds of the night, she found that her eyes were starting to droop.

"S-Sunny?" She yawned, and he squirmed out of the loose hug she'd been holding him in.

"I'm here, Dawn. We're just gonna lay down, now." At his direction, she eased out of her sitting position.

Her wings were tucked safely against her back, a pillow beneath her head. Moments later, she felt a blanket settle over her body and a smaller, warmer body tuck himself to her front.

"Is this alright?" He asked quietly and as an answer, her arms snaked forward to pull him closer. He was so firm in her arms, much more solid than her sister, who was wiry enough but ultimately, still fairly delicate. "You're not gonna hurt me, Dawn." He said, somehow voicing her thoughts before she had the chance. 

Even with all of his assurance, it still took her a long time to really drift off to sleep. She dreamed of singing flowers and a lovely spring on the moon, where she could swim without getting her wings wet. She dreamed of squirrel racing and fancy dances, and Sunny. When the first rays of light broke over her face, she felt calmer and more rested than she had in years.

Sunny still lay curled up next to her, though he'd rolled over in the night. His face was pressed to her neck, breathing softly, but deeply. He wasn't crushed, or mangled, or anything like that. He didn't even have any bruises. Dawn pulled back a bit, watching him sleep.

He'd taken off his hat, and his hair had puffed out a bit, going flat where they both laid on it. With his eyes shut, face slack and passive, he looked years younger than he was, and it made her smile. She wanted to trace his every freckle with her fingertip, kiss his face and ears until he woke. Her smile widened, and she giggled to herself. Being in love, real love,  _true_  love, was a little embarrassing, but it felt so, so good.

As it turned out, Sunny was a fairly light sleeper. At her first touch to his face, his eyes squeezed shut tighter, then slowly began to open. He blinked up at her blearily, looking around at the still-dark field.

"Nope, too early." He groaned, pulling the blanket around them tighter, and scooting forward until they were pressed front to front. She wrapped an arm around him, dropping a kiss on his hair.

"I wanna write a song about the way light shines in your wings." He mumbled suddenly, and Dawn realized that he was still mostly asleep. She stroked over one of his ears and he shuddered, quieting down. "Mmph, don' do that. Feels too nice."

"Okay, I won't." She replied, bringing her hand to the back of his head, instead. Everyone liked a good head scratch, and Sunny was no exception. "Better?" He hummed his approval, kissing her neck.

They'd been taking their courtship slow, much slower than anyone had assumed. They were both young, after all, and had all the time in the world to get to the heavier stuff. To them, the other's boundaries were important, something to be respected.

As the sun rose higher in the sky, Sunny slowly began to wake for real. She felt as his arms and legs stretched out of their curled states, looking down into loving brown eyes.

"Morning." He whispered, and she ducked her head down to meet his lips with her own. "Gonna go out on a limb and assume I'm still in one piece, because I've never felt so great in my life." Dawn giggled, but didn't make any move to pull away.

"I don't think I rolled once, last night." She confessed, then grinned. "So I'm gonna do it now!" 

Sunny squeaked as she rolled them over, pinning him on his back. His legs kicked out futilely, though she wasn't nearly as heavy as he pretended she was.

"Oh no." He deadpanned, smiling up at her. "I'm trapped. Whatever shall I do. This is certainly the end." Dawn held herself above him a few seconds more, then collapsed in a giggling heap. "I'm crushed! This is it! I'll see you on the other side!"

"Oh, shush." She laughed, kissing them both quiet. Moving off of him a bit, Dawn lay on her stomach, with his chest under her head. His heart was beating fast, and it made her smile. "So, when should we go back?" He hummed thoughtfully, bringing his hand into her hair.

"Well, I guess it all depends on how soon we want to get made fun of for staying out all night." Just then, a familiar set of wings flitted out of the Dark Forest, and Dawn gasped.

"Marianne!" She called, sitting up and waving. Her sister screeched to a stop, then doubled back. "Were  _you_  gone all night, too? Oh man, we're dead!" But she didn't sound particularly worried.

They'd had a system. Dawn covered for Marianne when she was off with Bog, and Marianne covered for Dawn when she was, sometimes literally, sneaking off to see Sunny. They'd never had to account for both of them being away at the same time, before.

Her sister's eyes raked over them both, visibly relaxing when she saw they were both clothed. "And what's all this?" Normally, she would have flown up to meet Marianne, but Dawn wasn't ready to part from her warm beau just yet.

"We spent the night together and I didn't beat him up!" She cried happily, and Marianne dropped down to their level. "I didn't roll at all, even!" The older sister climbed into their nest, observing it. There weren't any signs of heavy activity, and Sunny didn't seem to have any marks on him. Huh.

"Well that's something, alright." She said, her hand joining Sunny's on Dawn's head. "But I think it might be time for us to go."

There was a bit of whining, but eventually they got up, redressed, and began to collect the blankets and pillows they'd brought. "I'm gonna walk Sunny home, see you in a bit!"

And she did mean  _walk_. She wouldn't have been able to carry both him and the bedding, so they had themselves a nice little stroll back to the village. Once Sunny's home was in sight, Dawn sighed.

"I'm gonna be in trouble." He laughed, and she bumped his head with her hip. "I am! Which means I'm probably gonna be stuck inside all day." They let out matching sighs.

"I understand. But hey, at least now we know that you won't pummel me, right?" Dawn smiled wickedly. "What?"

"Well, I mean, I know I'll be given busy work to do all day, so I'll be  _awful_  tired this evening..." She raised a brow, and his eyes widened.

"Oh! Oh, yeah! Definitely! Meet you there?" He pulled the bedding she'd been carrying away from her and Dawn immediately floated up, bending to kiss him several times on the forehead, cheeks, and mouth.

"Nothing could keep me away!" She chirped, then took off into the sky. As usual, she turned and waved before she got too high, and he waved back.

She'd do all the daily busy work her father could throw at her if it meant that she and Sunny would have nights for themselves.


End file.
